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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24737374">A Dangerous Game With death and Death</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToastyDehmer/pseuds/ToastyDehmer'>ToastyDehmer</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Team Fortress 2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Soulmates, It's TF2, Last Messages, M/M, Temporary Character Death, What Did You Expect</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 03:34:10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,485</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24737374</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToastyDehmer/pseuds/ToastyDehmer</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When a soulmate dies, they come come back as a Phantom long enough to speak one last time with their other half before fading from the world entirely.</p><p>For the men on Teufort, they get plenty of chances at 'last words'.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Sniper/Spy (Team Fortress 2)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>101</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Dangerous Game With death and Death</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Got the idea from <a href="https://vm.tiktok.com/J1Qaq5Q/">this tiktok</a>.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>No one suspected them. Why would the team think anything was off between the two of them when they rarely stood side by side in battle? Or when they were careful about spending time together off the battlefield? No being seen going to and from each other’s rooms - or in Sniper’s case, van. No public displays of affection where anyone else could witness. No sweet words or silly pet names outside the bed. They loved each other but they kept their relationship quiet.</p><p>Of course no one would suspect them.</p><p>“Might want ta double back, love,” the airy voice of Sniper hummed at his back, a feather-light touch alighting on the back of Spy’s neck. “RED Spook got me an’ he’s gunnin’ for Truckie’s nest. Pyro’s stuck dealin’ wif RED Heavy an’ Medic in sewers.”</p><p>The touch disappeared along with Sniper’s voice, respawn claiming the soul to recreate the body of Spy’s soulmate. </p><p>No one could know. No one could be allowed even a suspicion. Not when their very existences were on the line.</p><p>As Spy sidestepped a group of REDs clamouring to get away from the incoming rocket barrage from above, the enemys’ eyes looking right past his hidden body, his old worries returned.</p><p>In each and every single mercenary’s contract it explicitly stated no fraternisation - not even with each other. Obviously enemy relations were one of the higher risks. The Administrator (or perhaps Mann Co. in general) didn’t seem to care all that much for the friendly rivalries and camaraderie between the members of each individual team. But something they all knew was strictly forbidden was the matter of soulmates.</p><p>No one spoke of it. There wasn’t even a book on the topic in Medic’s small library and he had something on nearly everything - Spy had checked before. There on Teufort, it was like soulmates didn’t exist. There was no other half for each of them. There was no person waiting outside of the damnable Gravel Wars. There was no one constantly seeing their Phantoms with every trip through respawn they each took.</p><p>None of them ever spoke of it but each of them could see the toll it took on them all.</p><p>Spy watched Demo from the safety of his cloak. He watched his teammate unleash a battlecry and run right into the rain of bullets coming right for him. Demo was the distraction meant to give just enough time for Scout and Medic to slip past the enemy defenses locked onto the bridge. Spy watched Demo run right into the bullets, sword raised high above his head. Watched him be razed. Watched the thankful and wistful smile slip onto his lips, the tear prick the corner of his eye just before his body hit the ground, the life already gone from his chocolate iris before a plume of desert dust could be formed.</p><p>They all fought their hardest. But death was...a relief. For some it meant seeing their loved ones, telling them about their day, hearing how things were at home. Spy knew Demoman had a wife and a child waiting for him at home. Same went for Engineer. And Medic was able to visit with his late wife.</p><p>For others, it was the chance to get to know their soulmate. These ones had a unique opportunity to spend time with their other half, learn about them, plan with them. It was for people like Heavy, who’s soulmate was located somewhere in Russia, the KGB a constant looming threat. It was for people like Scout, who looked forward to the day they could get out of here. It was for people like Soldier, whose passion for war was only fueled by whoever they had waiting for them outside the fences of Teufort.</p><p>Whether Sniper knew it or not, they passed each other underneath respawn, Spy heading for Engineer’s nest, Sniper to go make his own. Watching his lover go, Spy was reminded that who it wasn’t for was people like them.</p><p>Their placement together on the same team was a fluke, their meeting a mishap, and their Prints an accident. The almost tattoo-like handprint shaped like Sniper’s left hand wrapped around Spy’s left wrist. He knew the same would be on Sniper except as Spy’s own handprint. A split second decision on Sniper’s part to save Spy from tipping off the edge of the battlements when the enemy Soldier came bounding in. The tingling and pain from their Prints coming to life had distracted them enough to die by rockets anyways.</p><p><em> ‘It had been an accident,’ </em> was Spy’s thought as he wiped off the RED Spy’s blood from his balisong. Behind him, Engineer’s level three sentry only just barely stood, his teleporter and dispenser in pieces on the ground along with the offending sapper. The enemy’s body slumped against the desk holding the Intelligence. Spy watched it disappear. A speck of blood was left behind on the otherwise pristine BLU suitcase.</p><p>An accident.</p><p>
  <em>'Yet look where it’s led us.’ </em>
</p><p>Engineer soon came around the corner. Spy spared him a bored glance and slipped his knife inside his jacket. He started making his way out of the Intelligence room, time not something any of them could afford to waste.</p><p>“Some damn good timin’, Spook,” Engineer commented. Spy heard more than saw the short man make a dash for his sentry. “Seems like you’ve always got some. Care to give this fella a tip?”</p><p>“Nothing more than exceptional observational skills, laborer,” Spy easily lied over the sound of Engineer clanging his wrench.</p><p>Lies were essential for Sniper and Spy. Little vague things that could hold up over the test of time. Because though they wanted to be able to share a kiss as they pleased, hold hands during team movie night in the rec room, share little smiles from across the mess hall’s large table, they couldn’t.</p><p>Soulmates weren’t allowed. In the eyes of the Mann Brothers, it was cheating. ‘Cheating’ broke their contracts. Breaking their contracts meant Death. The permanent kind, the kind deserving capitalization. So they had to hide it. Nobody knew what laid beyond death’s doors. Not even Medic, the knowledge lost as soon as he came back. And the unknown was what made them fear Death.</p><p>A RED Heavy charging forward from respawn was what brought on Spy’s next death, a frustrated Medic muttering about his Ubercharge not being ready soon enough following along behind the brutish giant.</p><p>A smile graced Spy’s lips as between one second and the next, his sight went from the dusty, cobweb-filled rafters of RED base to the shadowed part of BLU battlements. His Sniper - sweating, panting, bleeding in all his indignant glory - sat huddled in the corner out of the REDs’ sights. He sat...at Spy’s feet.</p><p>Sniper looked up into Spy’s eyes almost as soon as his Phantom appeared. Soldier ran right through Spy’s body none the wiser to the two’s secret little meeting. Spy gazed down at Sniper, love and affection unveiled in his dark eyes and tender smile. No one but Sniper could see him. No one else ever could.</p><p>“RED Heavy and Medic pair coming from their base,” Spy murmured as he came to kneel down in front of his <em> chérie</em>. “The Medic’s charge isn’t ready but the Heavy is obstinate today. You’ll have your opening here in a few moments. Charge your shot. They’ll come from the left - our left. You know what to do.”</p><p>Spy’s gloved hands came to rest on either side of Sniper’s cheeks as he spoke, his entire body slowly turning opaque and his Print shining through his suit with a subtle warm glow. Sniper sighed, the corner of his lips turning up just that slightest bit, his eyes sliding shut, shoulders relaxed, tension seeping away. Sniper was at ease. He was at ease and it felt like a marvel to know it was because of Spy. Spy could feel that barest sense of warmth when he kissed chapped lips.</p><p>“Medic, then the Heavy,” Sniper hummed against Spy’s lingering lips. Spy smiled.</p><p>It was the tender moments like these they lived for. And it was stolen moments like these that made them fear Death. After all, who knew if they’d have them after the end?</p><p>“<em>Oui</em>.”</p><p>When Spy stumbled out of spawn, he heard the crack of Sniper’s rifle and the enraged scream of the enemy Heavy. Another shot less than a second later cut the sound off. His Print almost seemed to hum with satisfied warmth. Then there was a cheer. A rousing battlecry. Victory was nigh. And all because Sniper and Spy played a dangerous game with both death and Death. All it took would be one uttered, intuitive inkling for it all to take a dreadful turn.</p><p>So.</p><p>No one could know.</p><p>No one could be allowed even a suspicion.</p><p>Not when they had each others’ existences on the line.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>It's 11:13AM. I was supposed to be in bed by 8AM but this damn idea wouldn't leave me be. Here's the bittersweet yet sappy result. Hope ya'll like it!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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